1. Field of the Invention
In the field of dental hygiene there exist a plurality of tooth cleaning instruments. Of these firstly the mechanical toothbrush intended for everyday use must be mentioned, which serves not only for cleaning the teeth of food remnants but also serves for cleaning of the tooth spaces and of the gums, thereby serving as means for cleaning the oral cavity, and is operated by the person owning the oral cavity. With this tooth cleaning instrument, lightly adhering coatings or films as well as the food remnants are removed from the teeth, whereby this tooth cleaning instrument serves also to clean the spaces between the teeth and the transitions between the necks of the teeth and the gums. Such a tooth cleaning instrument is a brush with a plurality of relatively soft bristles, of which usually a plurality of bristle groups arranged with small spacings between one another are provided. The mechanical driving of such a toothbrush takes place with a higher frequency and with a smaller amplitude than is the case with manually operated toothbrushes. As action upon the gums with excessive pressure is harmful, mechanically driven toothbrushes having a pressure sensor which generates a visible warning signal, when a loading of the toothbrush directed transversely of the bristle shaft exceeds a predetermined value, have been developed.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
On the other hand there exist tooth cleaning instruments, namely so-called tartar removal devices, which are utilized by the dentist in his practice for the treatment of patients. These are mechanically-driven tartar removal devices with a wire-form tool with only one tip, which is mechanically driven at a high frequency and a small amplitude whereby the hard metal tip of the instrument, which is curved in the manner of a beak, is driven by vibrations which are directed transversely of its shaft and therefore--because of the arced beak form of the curved tip--impacts the surface of the teeth, gently however, and is capable of removing even firmly adhering tartar.
There are also very thin films on teeth, such as tooth surface discolorations, for which an above-described tartar removal device is not suitable.
For cleaning the teeth of surface discolorations an apparatus has become known in which a cleaning powder mixed with warm water is squirted onto the tooth surface under pressure, whereby the surface discolorations are removed by the cleaning powder. A water-soluble cleaning powder such as sodium carbonate is utilized, which dissolves in water during treatment, so that no granular remains are left in the oral cavity. The water is removed from the mouth by means of a suction apparatus. Although this tooth cleaning instrument, which is likewise for use by a dentist, has proved itself in practice, the treatment is unpleasant, in particular for sensitive patients, as its leaves an unusual taste in the mouth on account of the sodium carbonate. Also, this known tooth cleaning instrument may not be used for such patients who must to keep to a low-salt diet, who suffer from a severe illness affecting the respiratory organs and wear contact lenses.